Regarding work and income inequality between men and women are not afraid. These
inequalities are more related to inequality in the distribution of domestic tasks and
overall social inferiority of women. The women's strike of 7 March 2014 (8 is a Saturday)
will be an opportunity to claim equal treatment of men and women workers.
" This is the work that women have largely covered the distance that separated the male
and is the only work that can guarantee him a concrete freedom , "wrote Simone de
Beauvoir in The Second Sex . The participation rate of women aged 15 to 64 years (the
percentage of women working or looking for work) is growing steadily. It went from 53.1%
in 1975 to 66.2% in 2011 (at the same time the rate for men has dropped from 84% to
74.8%). If you think, as Simone de Beauvoir's work as a source of freedom, was the only
positive indicator of the status of women in the workplace. Finally provided to forget
that among these active women, many are unemployed.
More unemployment, less pay
In 2011, women were unemployed at 9.7%, when the men were at 8.8%. The gap was four and
three points in the 1990s, it came down to two points in the 2000s and at one point today.
But this "improvement" is not really as it relates to job creation service underpaid
occupied by women. Women earn, on average, a full-time 20% lower than men's wages
equivalent. The higher up the pay scale, the gap is important. If we do not calculate
full-time equivalent salary but actually cashed at the end of the month, women earn 27%
less than men.
The first factor explaining this difference is the part-time work. He explains three
points 27% difference. The part-time employment rate has been doubled over the last thirty
years. However, it has stagnated since the 1990s around 18% of employee-es. Women are 80%
of employees to part-time. Approximately 30% of women work part-time, while 6.7% of men
do. The proportion of part-time work is about 30%. 33% for men and 26% for women. Women
therefore represent three-quarters of employees are in part-time work. The rate of
involuntary part-time is certainly underestimated because it is calculated on the basis of
wishes when seeking employment. And again, "choose" to keep their children or reconciling
private and professional life, is not to be?
A second explanatory factor is the gender distribution of employment. Women are
over-represented in the least skilled and other sectors the lowest paid activity. With the
qualifications and diplomas, this factor explains fifteen points of the wage gap.
Care, cleaning, mothering
Ten eighty-four professional families (categories of grouping occupations used for
statistics on employment) account for more than half of female employment when ten
families where men are more represented not include 30% : women are assigned to some jobs
or sectors. Women represent 74% of officers and maintenance workers, 64% of teachers, 69%
of employees in sales, 72% of employees in category C of Public Administration, 97% of
secretaries, 99% of assistants breast-le-s, 98% of home health aides and homemakers, 91%
of nurses' aides and orderlies, 87% of nurses and midwives, 76% of employees of
administrative company.
Work exactly reproduces the inequalities in the rest of society and assignments to social
roles. Female-dominated occupations are the qualities that gender stereotypes attributed
to women: the ability to care for others, caring for children, maintaining relationships,
clean ...
Women workers are employed or 54.3%, they are managers or higher intellectual professions
to 14.5% while 45% of men are workers or employees and 20.3% are managers or higher
intellectual professions. Less than 20% of Officers companies are women.
There are nine points unexplained wage gap. Perhaps the idea that female wage is anchored
an extra income? Or simple sexism business leaders who think women less efficient and
competent?
Through work, women have therefore won the right to poverty. Considering the rate of 50%
of median income as the limit of poverty, 8.1% of women are poor at 60%, the rate is 15%.
For men, it is 7.4% and 13.3%. Poverty does not affect men and women equally. The gap is
particularly pronounced in older es: After 75 years, there are nearly three times more
poor women than men because of the weakness of their retirement (those women are 31% lower
than those men). The gap is also important for the age group 25-34 years, the single
mothers who receive an allowance or a part-time salary.
Domestic work and motherhood
Women spend four hours a day on housework, an hour less than in 1986 (men spend two
fifteen, as in 1986), three hours for cleaning and shopping (one hour fifteen minutes for
men ), forty-five minutes for child care (twenty minutes for men) and fifteen minutes for
gardening and DIY (forty minutes for men). The participation rate of women is 69% with a
young child, to 60% when there are two, and 37% when there are three or more.
Let's strike women
Domestic work burden on the professional activity of women on their level of activity
(they stop to care for small children), occupations exercised (in areas compatible with
the "qualities" female) on time part (to reconcile ...), the amount of wages (always a
little extra). And professional and pay conditions affecting the distribution of domestic
work. Affirm our ras-le-bol to be treated and under-employed maids, stop work and let us
strike March 7, 2014.
Christine (AL Orne)
The figures in this article are taken from sites INSEE Observatory inequality, observing
society and Dares Centre.
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